To create simile lesson plans, you should typically consider how you can work lessons about similes into an overall unit and try to make a connection between the idea of similes and works you are reading in class. One of the easiest ways to introduce similes is through the use of a poem that includes similes, as this can be a short work that is easy to read and start your lesson. You should also try to find ways to reinforce the idea of similes, however, so you might present this lesson before a longer reading selection that includes similes. It may also be easy for you to present both similes and metaphors together, so you should consider simile lesson plans that also include metaphors.
Simile lesson plans are usually developed in language arts classes and may be part of a larger unit on literary or poetic devices. The uses of similes are so diverse and powerful, however, they often deserve their own lessons to reinforce their use and student understanding. One of the first things you should consider for your simile lesson plans is how you are going to introduce similes to your students. You should think about using a short poem that includes strong similes to immediately capture the students' attention and give them something smaller than a full story to work with.
Once you introduce similes to your students, however, then you should let them actually use them. You might have your students write out a short poem, or even just a few lines of prose, that includes similes for imagery. If some of your students might have trouble with such open work, then you can design simile lesson plans that are more directed. You might create a work sheet that sets up a simile and lets the students complete them. Several lines that begin with phrases like “She was as fast as ____” or “The cat was quiet like ____” can give your students a chance to work with similes in a simple way.
You should also try to present simile lesson plans during a unit that can continue to reinforce the idea of similes. If you know that reading assigned for a certain night will include similes, such as a particular chapter of a book being read during a unit, then you should present the simile lesson on the day before that reading. You can then encourage or require that students find one or more similes from that evening’s reading to use the next day in class. This ensures your students have another reason to do the reading and can quickly allow you to check to see if they are doing the assigned reading.
As you are designing your simile lesson plans, you might also consider teaching both metaphors and similes together. They are such closely associated ideas, that it may help your students to understand both of them within a single context. If your students have difficulty remembering which type of phrase is a simile and which is a metaphor, you should use some type of mnemonic device or other method to help them remember. You might, for example, tell them that “a simile is only similar, so it uses like or as” while a metaphor is direct.
